Information, news stories, and questions about True Traditionalist Orthodox Churches. This is the place to post encyclicals and any official public communications from a True Orthodox jurisdiction. All Forum Rules apply. No polemics here! No intra-TOC discussions either. Please PM admin for access to private discussion forums.

Here is a current complete listing of all the True or Traditional Genuine Orthodox Churches along with their web addresses. Actually, there should only be one Holy Church, but unfortunately, there are many churches who claim to be True Orthodox. These churches are not in communion with each other.

If you find any errors, missing websites, or additional churches that call themselves True Orthodox, please post a reply correcting any mistakes you might find and provide website links for those which are in error or absent, then I will do further research and edit this post to keep it updated.

Thank you very much for your help.

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These are the Orthodox Churches who identify themselves as True or Traditional Genuine Orthodox:

With the promulgation of the New Calendar, Ecumenism, and Modernism by the EP and the Greek State in 1924, and with the heavy persecution that followed, the Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians (GOX) was originally started in 1924 in Greece under the leadership of St. Matthew, who was a missionary hieromonk at the time. This group started its synod in 1935 when three bishops left the EP and Greek Synod, joined the GOX and consecrated St. Matthew and other new bishops. After continued religious persecution and inhumane imprisonment in which some Christian Orthodox Traditionalists were martyred while others were drugged, tortured, and denied sleep, food, and water by the socialist Greek State, Met. Chrysostom of Florina later left St. Matthew in 1937 and started the Florinites. Today, the one remaining Florinite monastery on Mt. Athos, St. Esphigmenou, http://www.esphigmenou.com/ continues to experience draconian persecution by the EP and his police where some of those monks have been killed, while other have been imprisoned, and denied basic needs such as clothing, food, water, and health care.

Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians: GOX or GOC which follow St. Matthew the New Confessor of GreeceThe term "Matthewite" is considered to be pejorative but it is used by two schismatic factions: Chrysostomos of Thebes and Kirykos. These two sects who have left the GOC are not in communion with each other.

Genuine Orthodox Church (GOC) - Metropolitan Christopher of Mesogaias and the Islands (Separated from the GOC-AB Makarios in 2013)http://www.omologitis.org/ - Greek and English

Genuine Orthodox Church (GOC) Metropolitan Synod of North and South American and the British Isles (His Beatitude Metropolitan John of New York)also known as: The Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of North and South America and the British Isleshttp://orthodoxmetropolia.org/

Yes : ROCiE, Russian Orthodox Church in Exile, is also popularly known as "Mansonville", after themonastery near Montreal, Canada, where Met Vitaly spent much time over the years. I believe he founded the skete there.

So, Abp Vladimir is from that jurisdiction; originally consecrated when there were still Met Vitaly and [ahem] Bp Varnava.

Several other splits off of that exist and that's where the confusion enters in.

Plus, the fact that several of the Russian TOC's call themselves "Rocor", which is nice in the sense of saying thatthey consider themselves the true continuity of the original Rocor that we all know and love.

But for clarity, I think instead of using these labels, ALL Russian TOC's should apportion themselvesclear, understandable initials. And STICK with those. Not, like Met Agafangel's group, reinvent themselvesseveral times as a new set of intials. How can the faithful keep up ?!

MTOX, I recognize but cant' think of the answer right now. Another member will surely explain.

Barbara wrote:Yes : ROCiE, Russian Orthodox Church in Exile, is also popularly known as "Mansonville", after themonastery near Montreal, Canada, where Met Vitaly spent much time over the years. I believe he founded the skete there.

So, Abp Vladimir is from that jurisdiction; originally consecrated when there were still Met Vitaly and [ahem] Bp Varnava.

Several other splits off of that exist and that's where the confusion enters in.

Plus, the fact that several of the Russian TOC's call themselves "Rocor", which is nice in the sense of saying thatthey consider themselves the true continuity of the original Rocor that we all know and love.

But for clarity, I think instead of using these labels, ALL Russian TOC's should apportion themselvesclear, understandable initials. And STICK with those. Not, like Met Agafangel's group, reinvent themselvesseveral times as a new set of intials. How can the faithful keep up ?!

MTOX, I recognize but cant' think of the answer right now. Another member will surely explain.

Thanks for the information about ROCiE.

Jonathan informed me that the MTOX (also called MTOC) are the Matthewites.Apparently, most of the Soviet-era catacomb churches have either merged with the ROCOR or split from the ROCOR like ROCiE and then joined other TOC groups, so yes, it is very confusing. These Orthodox Christians have really struggled.

Lydia wrote:I believe ROCIE Mansonville is the same synod as Archbishop Vladimir of San Fran. ROCOR-V

The Cyprianites hold heretical views that the Church is divided into healthy and sick parts; I don't think they can be regarded as True Orthodox.

This is an important and difficult task, Maria. May God bless your efforts and make them successful.

Thank you, Lydia. I will check further into ROCiE.

However, this is neither the forum nor the thread to be debating whether any jurisdiction listed above, especially the SiR, should be truly called True, Traditional, or Genuine Orthodox. We have the Intra-TOC Polemics private forum for such debates.

And do please note, that even though the SiR (Cyprianites) teaches that the ROCOR-MP is not completely devoid of grace, the SiR does preach against ecumenism and holds to the Patristic or Julian Calendar. Thus the SiR is also being persecuted and harassed by World Orthodoxy for their traditional beliefs.